About Lijiang
What to see and do in Lijiang
Weather in Lijiang
Airport in Lijiang
Visa
Lijiang City is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Yunnan Province, China. It has an area of 21,219 square kilometers and a population of 1,137,600 as of 2005.
Lijiang, possibly the best preserved old town in China, is one of the last places in this country where a visitor can witness and experience a historic, traditional urban culture. Remarkably, the old houses with stone foundations, plastered whitewashed brick walls, red wooden doors, shutters and balconies, and sloping tiled roofs, survived a recent earthquake without much damage, while the new concrete buildings were flattened. Adding to the charm of the narrow, winding, mostly pedestrian cobblestone streets is a network of canals. They are fast flowing from the Black Dragon Pool, a nice park with some interesting temples and a great view of the nearby Jade Dragon Snow Mountains.
Lijiang is home to the Naxi, a minority matriarcal culture originating from Tibet. The Dongba, Naxi shamans of a religion which is an almalgalm of Tibetan buddhism, Islam, and Taoism, created more than a thousand years ago a writting language consisting of more than 1300 pictographs. It is the only hieroglyphic language still in use. There are interesting foods to try, as well as traditional music to hear. The old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Lijiang is in Yunnan, 570 km north-west of Kunming. It can be reached by air or road (a couple of hours from Dali, a full day to Jinjiang, the railhead).
The Old Town of Lijiang, which is perfectly adapted to the uneven topography of this key commercial and strategic site, has retained a historic townscape of high quality and authenticity. Its architecture is noteworthy for the blending of elements from several cultures that have come together over many centuries. Lijiang also possesses an ancient water-supply system of great complexity and ingenuity that still functions effectively today.
The city has a 800 year history from as early as the late Song Dynasty. It is built where the Jade River divides into three and its streams form the canals and waterways which flow along the old town streets.
Old Town - Walk around, watch people, shop, drink and eat.
Culture Show - Naxi Orchestra. RMB 120 pp. Shows start at 20.00 and lasts approximately 1 1/2 - 2 hrs.
Mu Palace - The palace where the Mu Clan of the Naxi people ruled for over 400 years. Its a large complex that extends part way up the hill behind it. At the top is a Daoist temple, with a few Daoists ready to give fortunes to visitors for a donation. A taste of Mu lao ye jiu, a kind of local alcohol, is available for 5 (in a shot glass), and there is also a free tea tasting area. Entry fee is RMB 35, but the non-posted student price is RMV 20.
Jade Dragon Snow Mountain - A mountain massif (also identified as a small mountain range) 15 km from Lijiang, in Yunnan province of southwestern China. Its highest peak is named Shanzidou (5,596 m or 18,359 ft). The view of the massif from the gardens at the Black Dragon Pool (Heilong Tan) in Lijiang is noted as one of China's finest views. The far side of the mountain forms one side of Tiger Leaping Gorge (Hutiao Xia). Mules can be rented from the nearby Bai Sha village or you can take a cable car to the top. Prices vary for the mules depending on what elevation you want to go to. RMB 180 to ride to 3800 meters plus RMB 5 for insurance. RMB 300 to 4200 meters. RMB 350 to 4600 meters. If you pay for the lowest elevation you might be able to bargain with the handlers when you reach the end and continue to the higher elevations for a lower price. Passengers over 100 kg might have to pay a surcharge. Tickets for the cable car cost RMB 170 round-trip. Entrance to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain RMB190.
Black Dragon Pool - About 1 km from Square Street. Hours: 08:00 - 17:00, no entrance fee, but you have to show your receipt of the Old Town preservation, which is cost RMB 80. keep the receipt you can visit some others places for only showing that.
What to do in Lijiang
Upon entering the Old Town you will be approached by people selling antique-looking tourist maps of the Old Town. They cost about RMB 5 and are extremely useful for finding your way around town. If you can read Chinese or are fortunate enough to find an English version then it also will give you a short history of the town and local festivals. An English version is essential for Mandarin-deficient travelers. Buy one from the tourism kiosk near the two old waterwheels at the north end of town. Most hotels will give you one if you ask for free.
For the music lover there is a Naxi Concert Hall where visitors can listen to traditional Naxi music performed by an orchestra including some of 70-90 year old men. The music itself is a combination of traditional Chinese music dating back to the Tang dynasty and local instruments and flavours. The show costs RMB 120-160 depending on the seat, and lasts for two hours. The music is well performed, however be prepared for long explanations of its musical history in Mandarin between each piece and the sometimes self-serving comments of Xuan Ke the Director. While the Naxi Ancient Music group of Lijiang is famous and well promoted, there are other excellent classical Chinese music groups playing in Lijiang's parks (for RMB10) or at weddings or house warmings all over Yunnan.
Along the main streams are girls selling candles that float on delicate flower-shaped styrofoam boats. Tourists can purchase one, make a wish, and send their candle down the waterways. In December 2007, the going rate was RMB 10 -- but no one was really buying. Late in the evening after groups have had significant amounts of alcohol you can see many floating candles sailing down the waterways. If you are environmentally conscious and have reservations about sending styrofoam downstream don't worry. There is a net, far down the waterway, that catches the boats. The girls just go down, pick the boats up, and re-sell them the next night.)
Rent a bike downtown (Ali Baba's near Mao Zedong's statue) for about RMB 15 per day (includes a bottle of water and a lock) and see the sights. Ali Baba's will give you a handmade map of smaller surrounding towns that capture the quaint styles of Lijiang without the heavy tourism and the tacky souvenir shops. There are at least 3 towns, ranging from converted hippy communes to remote farming villages. There is a beautiful remote Buddhist monastery at Puji Mountain which is worth the 30 minute hike. There is also a Tibetan village labeled on the map but is hard to find, so ask Ali Baba for directions. Most of the terrain around Lijiang is level and the roads have only light traffic. These small, non-touristy towns and other sightseeing destinations can be reached within a 20 minute ride.
To get to the Black Dragon Pool you can walk the canal path north near the main water wheel. It will take you to the south entrance of the park. Ticket price is RMB 80 for a rather small and mediocre Chinese park. Don't worry though, the north part of the park is free. You can get there by walking around the south entrance and keep heading north. You should reach a the street with the main entrance to the park. Keep going north and you'll see a small bridge that leads to a large white building. The white building is the Dongba Museum, everything north of that is free. If the guards bother you at the gate, just walk back to the street and keep walking north and there will be another path to get in to the free part with no gates or guards to bother you. Although the the ticket is expensive for the original part of the park there are many excellent photo opportunities within.
Further north of the park is a local college, and northwest of that is a small reservoir. The reservoir is a good place to take photos of the snow mountain when it's visible. On hot sunny days in the summer there will be lots of locals swimming there in the afternoon. At the local college you can find students to help you. The English building is the large pink one just right after you enter the south entrance. There is a student run Cafe that is open in the evening from 6:30 - 10 in the "butterfly" building, which is opposite of the English building. As of 2007 the school has an English corner every Thursday after lunch(1:00 pm), and after dinner at 5:40 pm. The English corner is so-so, but it's a great chance to ask students about where to go, and cheap transportation. Many of them are from other places in Yunnan.
If you would like to visit some of the Naxi villages in the hills surrounding Lijiang, you can rent a small van to take you around for about RMB 100 to 300, depending on the drive rand how much Chinese you speak. There are regular minivans on Shangrila Road, the main road on the west side of town, who take locals to and from the villages. Sometimes it can be difficult to find a mini-van to go back to Lijiang after 5:00 pm if you don't make arrangements with the driver who took you there. The regular one way mini-van fee is RMB 2.00 to Shuhe, and about RMB 3 - 5 for villages farther north(2007). I highly recommend asking a student at the local college on where to find the mini-busses and the prices of the village you want to go. Many drivers will try and rip you off if you don't speak Chinese, and the buses are not always easy to find as they look the same as the private "3-8" busses that travel inside the city.
Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Visable from Lijiang, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is snow capped all year round. The area around the mountain has been declared a scenic area and incurs an entrance fee of RMB 80 (in Dec 2007). This only seems to be collected when entering from the Lijiang end.
Impression Lijiang: This is a cultural show demonstrating the traditions and lifestyles of the Naxi, Yi and Bai peoples of the area. The show takes place inside Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Park at 3500m in an outdoor theater specifically designed to showcase the mountain which is used as a backdrop. The production itself was designed by Zhang Yimou (director of Hero, House of Flying Daggers), Fan Yue and Wang Chaoge, a cast of over 500 people, and a number of horses. However, the show does not have a plot and is directed towards tourists. Tickets cost RMB 190 and can be bought from the ticket booth in the Old Town (make a right at the water wheels and walk down the main street, the booth will be on your left). The ticket price does not include transportation to and from the theater (approx 1 hour drive) or the entrance fee for the park (RMB 80). There is also an Old Town Preservation fee that the park tries to charge as well, however, this can be avoided by claiming to have already paid at you hotel (and showing your hotel key). Bus #7 will take you to the theater for only RMB 10 (can be caught across from the Mao Zedong statue) but be sure to find out what time the last bus leaves the park.
Ganhaizi (Dry Sea Meadow): The closest chair lift up the mountain to Lijiang. For RMB 160 return it transports visitors to a large meadow located at 3050 metres. Yunshanping (Cloud Fir Meadow): From the reception centre which is located adjacent to Impression Lijiang on the Lijiang - Daju road a fleet of buses transports visitors to a cable car which then takes visitors to 4506 metres. Both bus transfer and cable car costs a total of RMB 160 for a return trip. From the upper terminus of the cable car a walkway allows visitors to climb past a glacier to 4680 metres. If you make it this far you can have your name engraved on a medallion for RMB 30. Allow up to an hour wait for the transfer bus and for the cable car on the way up and down if you don't avoid the tour groups. Allow for an hour travel time, each way, in addition to the potential wait time.
Maoniuping (Yak Meadow): The furtherest from Lijiang at a distance of 60 km, this cable car, costs RMB 60 (for a round-trip). At an elevation of 3,500 metres and the least-visited of the three chair lifts this area offers grazing yaks, a Tibetan temple and a number of hiking possibilities. On the way to the chairlift's lower terminus the road drips down and crosses a river. A number of yaks are located here where for a fee you can sit on one. Their owners seem to have no objection to visitors taking photos for no fee of the yaks standing in the river with awesome Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in the background. You can also access Yak Meadow by hopping aboard bus #7 across from the Mao Zedong statue which will take you to the Impression Lijiang theater for RMB 10 . At the theater there is a ticket booth to the left of the show entrance which sells tickets to both Spruce Meadow and Yak Meadow (RMB 80) and provides a tour bus to and from the cable cars and a cable car ticket. Be sure to find out what time the last bus passes the Impression Lijiang theater or you may find your self calling a taxi which could be expensive. Also see "Impression Lijiang" info for entrance fees to the park itself.
Baisha Village : Baisha village is a small village in Yulong Naxi Autonomous County, part of Lijiang city, well-known for its Jade Dragon Snow Mountain range. It is the original settlement of the Naxi people who came to the greater Lijiang Valley over a thousand years ago. Made up of at least 12 smaller villages, the main village is Sanyuan which has one main stone street called of course, 'Baisha street'. It has a typical Chinese "old-town" tourist setup, consisting of a stone paved street with a mixture of Chinese trinket sellers-shops and several quaint cafes to stop at relax, have a drink some Yunnan coffee eat a Naxi Pie and avoid the crowded Lijiang. A great escape from Lijiang Old-town tourist trap, only 12 KM north of town, you can rent a bike and get there in about 40 minutes. You should consider staying a few nights, in a Naxi family's ourtyard, no "hotel-Hostels" here. Even tough almost everything costs you a ticket price to do in China these days; you can do many things here for free! Like hike the local mountains threw the high alpine botanical garden and search for herbs on your way to the Jade Dragon Lake, the backside of Snow Jade Dragon Mountain. Visit some of the temples or traditional Naxi houses of the area before they are gone.
Laojun Mountain
The north of Laojun Mountains look like an old and encyclopedical Naxi person.
There are the homeland of Dongba culture, the arboretum in Xinzhu and the oldest firry.
Xinzhu is the homeland of Dongba culture where the first Dongba School was set up.
The arboretum in Xinzhu shows crude scenery. It is very beautiful.
The oldest firry is the same age to China, about 5,000 years old in the arboretum.
So it is also called "the Deity of the tree".
Stone Drum Town
About 60 kilometers from the Dayan ancient town in Lijiang, there is an ancient
town named Stone-Drum Town, which is backing green hills and facing the
Yangtze River, situated at an open land. Stone-Drum Town had ever been the
political and economic center of Lijiang, and militarily important town.
Changjiang First Bay
The First Bend of the Changjiang River runs southward from Qingzang Plateau
to the Shigu village in Yunnan Province. Because of the change of the mountain ranges,
the river forms a "V" shape. The Jinsha River is the upper reach of the Changjiang River.
So this is called "the First Bend of the Changjiang River". It is more than
50 kilometers away from Lijiang City.
Jade Water Village
In the mysterious beautiful north party of Lijiang town, about 15kms away
from the town, lies the Jade-water Village. The Village is natural and simple,
the mountain and the water closely related, beautiful scenery and with strong
nationality features, here one can enjoy the famous God Dragon
Three-story-water-fall, and ancient god tree-five-angle Chinese sweet gum,
you can know ancient Dongba and enjoy world known popular folk classical
musical treasure-White Sand Soft Music and other humanism scenery,
the village has become a sacred tour place both to Naxi people and tourist
for being sacred land of Dongba and the origin of the old town.
Tiger Jumping Gorge
Situated to the northwest of the town of Lijiang, Tiger Leaping Gorge with a
splendid view of the swift turbulent current of the Golden River is created
through constant cutting by the waters between Jade Dragon Mountain and
Haba Mountain. 17 kilometers long, the gorge drops about 300 meters
in a series of 18 rapids, and is divided into the Upper Gorge, the Middle Gorge
and the Lower Gorge. The Lower Gorge is the most awe - inspiring part of all.
The gorge, in which the Golden Sand River pounds furiously at its rocky shores
in an awesome fashion, sending up skyfuls of white froth, is a
dream place for adventurers.
White water River
25 kilometers (approx. 16 miles) in the north of Lijiang, about 5 kilometers
(approx. 3 miles) north of the Dry Sea (Ganhai), lies the White Water River,
a river formed by runoff from the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Surrounded
by mountains, the river runs towards the east.The first impression that the river
leaves visitors with is the color of white.
Lugu Lake
We also call Lugu Lake "the Girls' Nation". Around Lugu Lake live the
Mosuo people. The Mosuo folk customs are based on the matriarchal family
and the "Axia" marriage pattern. They are the "living fossils of the marriage
patterns in the primitive patriarchal society".
Lijiang has three different climatic zones, ranging from subtropical in the southeast, to warm temperatures in the center, and cold temperatures in the northwest. In addition, the characteristics of vertical climate in some highlands can also be seen in Lijiang. For example, Jade Dragon Mountain with its higher altitude, has five different climatic zones, from warm temperate to alpine.
Lijiang has a clear annual distinction between the wet and dry seasons. The wet season spans May to October, with plenty of rainfall. From November to April belongs to the dry season. Additionally, because of its high average elevation, Lijiang has abundant sunshine all year round, favored with fresh air and charming natural scenery. Of course, don't forget to protect yourself from the strong radiation from the sun.
Without too much change from spring to winter, the weather of Lijiang allows visitors to get there at any time. However, considering the fairly wide variation in day-and-night temperature in spring and winter, summer and autumn are the most favorable seasons for coming here. Except for summer, when T-shirts and trousers are enough, it's advisable to take some warm clothes in the other three seasons.
January 15 C to 3 C
February 18 C to 5 C
March 22 C to 8 C
April 25 C to 11 C
May 26 C to 15 C
June 25 C to 16 C
July 26 C to 17 C
August 27 C to 17 C
September 23 C to 15 C
October 21 C to 12 C
November 17 C to 7 C
December 15 C to 3 C
Lijiang Airport (IATA: LJG, ICAO: ZPLJ) is an airport in Lijiang City, Yunnan, People's Republic of China.
Built in 1995, the civil airport is 25km to the east of the city proper. There are flights to and from Kunming, Xishuangbanna, Beijing and Shanghai
Lijiang Airport (LJG) is located about 28 kilometers (about 17.4 miles) to the south of Lijiang City, having an elevation of about 2242.6 meters (about 7357.6 feet). The airport was constructed in 1995, and now is one of the busiest mid-sized airports in Yunnan Province. Currently, there are connections from Kunming, Xishuangbanna, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen and Guiyang. However, most visitors prefer to fly to Kunming first, then get to Lijiang by air or by long-distance bus. Kunming Wujiaba International Airport provides more domestic and international services.
When you arrive at Lijiang Airport, travel to the city is by airport shuttle bus or taxi. The shuttle buses run between the airport and the civil aviation ticket office in Lantian Hotel. The fare is about RMB 15 per person. From there you can get to the Old Town by taxi for RMB 10. The bus journey takes about half an hour. Alternatively, you can travel to the Old Town directly by taxi for about RMB 80.
Airlines and other destination of Lijiang
Air China (Chengdu, Kunming)
China Eastern Airlines (Beijing, Chengdu, Jinghong, Kunming, Shanghai-Hongqiao, Shanghai-Pudong)
China Southern Airlines (Guangzhou, Kunming)
Deer Air (Kunming)
Shanghai Airlines (Kunming, Shanghai-Hongqiao)
Shenzhen Airlines (Shenzhen)
Sichuan Airlines (Chengdu, Chongqing, Kunming)
Xiamen Airlines (Hangzhou, Xiamen)
To be able to travel to Lijiang you need to have a valid China Visa, issue from your local government at the China Embassy, Chinese visa fall into four types: diplomatic visa, courtesy visa, service visa and ordinary visa. Ordinary visa is further divided into the following 8 categories each marked with a letter:
(1) Tourist and family visit visa (L-visa) is issued to a foreign citizen who comes to China for tourist purpose, family visit or other personal affairs.
(2) Business Visa (F-visa ) is issued to a foreign citizen who is invited to China for visit, research, lecture, business, exchanges in the fields of science, technology, education, culture and sports, or attending various kinds of trade fairs or exhibitions, or short-term study, intern practice for a period of no more than 6 months.
(3) Student Visa (X-visa) is issued to a foreign citizen who comes to China for the purpose of study or advanced study for a period of six or more months.
(4) Work Visa (Z-visa) is issued to a foreign citizen who comes to China to work and his or her accompanying family members, or to give commercial performances in China.
(5) Transit Visa (G-visa) is issued to a foreign citizen who is to transit through China on his or her way to a third country (or region).
(6) Crew Visa(C-visa)is issued to crew member performing his/her duties on board an international train, or on an international airliner, to a sailor on board an international ocean-liner or freighter, and also to their accompanying family members..
(7) Journalist Visa (J-visa)is issued to foreign journalists. J-visa has two categories: J-1 visa and J-2 visa. J-1 visa is issued to resident foreign journalists in China and their accompanying spouses and under-age children, J-2 visa to foreign journalists who visit China for temporary news coverage.
(8) Permanent Residence Visa(D-visa)is issued to a foreign citizen who has been approved by China's public security authority to reside in China permanently.
for Language guide please refer to: http://www.china-city-guide.com/beijing/pages/localguide.php for
free download of basic survival Chinese conversation in China.